I am Number Nine
by Jaystar of NightClan
Summary: It's been twelve years since I left Lorien, my home.There are nine of us. We were given numbers and only in that order could each of us be killed. Number One was killed in a few days since our arrival. I've been in hiding with my Cêpan for eight years. I await the day when we can return to Lorien. If I live that long. The Mogadoriens are coming, it won't be long till they find me


"Oliver, why can't I go?" I frown.

"Because, its dangerous." he replies, barely answering my question. Oliver, my older brother is way too protective of me. I've always figured it was because our parents died but sometimes I wonder if there's more.

"Dangerous to go on my class field trip?" I scoff. My seventh grade class is taking a field trip to the mountain and staying there all day. I want more than anything to go, except maybe knowing a bit more about my parents. Oliver never speaks of them. He says they died when I was one, twelve years ago. I'm thirteen now. My name is Melody. I live with my brother, Oliver. I don't quite understand it, but I have a feeling that he is hiding something from me. Oliver's never kept a secret from me before, or so I thought.

"Yes! I won't be there to protect you!" he insists. I roll my eyes, that's always his excuse.

"What do you mean? Protect me from what?" I scoff. He's twenty-three and he thinks he knows just about everything. I don't quite understand why he always has to be at my side.

"Just trust me, okay Melody?" he pleads. I sigh, because I do trust him. I've never doubted him once because he's always done what he thought was best for me.

"Oliver, please can I go? It's just a class field trip, what's the worst that could happen?" I ask.

"You have no idea." he groans.

"Oliver? Can I please go?" I pleaded, I wasn't going to back down so easily.

"How many of you are going?" he asks.

"The grade fours, fives, sixes and sevens." I reply, daring myself to believe he is going to let me go with them.

"I want you to call me every hour, do you hear me? I'm not going to let anything happen to you." he said, handing me a cell phone.

"Oh thank you Oliver!" I hug him tightly before grabbing my backpack.

"I mean it Melody, If you don't call I'm going to expect that something bad has happened to you. Melody, I worry about you. Every moment you aren't by my side I always assume," his voice trails off.

"What Oliver? You always assume what?" I ask, grasping his hand.

"I assume you've left me." he sighs. I know he's thinking about mom and dad. I don't even know so much as their names but I don't pressure Oliver into telling me. He already has enough on his mind while he's worrying about me.

"Melody, please just promise to call." he begs.

"Don't worry about me Oliver, I'll call." I smile, stepping into my shoes.

"I'll always worry about you Melody, it's my duty." he mumbles as I step through the door. _What could he mean by that? _I shrug the thought away and run off into the direction towards the school. As I reach the end of the yard, I glance back towards to house to see Oliver. He is standing at the window, his face full of worry. _Why is he worrying so much about me? It's just a class field trip. _I turn and race down the sidewalk. I can see the school yard coming into view. I smile when I see my class mates.

"Hi Melody! Are you ready for the trip to the mountains?" Olivia asks excitedly.

"Readier than you can imagine." I smile. Olivia and I walk to our classroom together. Most of our class mates have their backpacks at their desks with them.

"Are you ready to go?" Our teacher, Mr. Smith asks. Our class replies in applause and cheers. He smiles before leading us out to the buses. I look down at the phone Oliver gave me, it's almost time for me to call him to let him know I was alright. We board the bus and I sit in the second seat, Olivia sits across from me. I dig into my backpack and pull out the phone. It's easy to find Oliver's number because he's the only contact on the phone.

"Melody?" he asks when he answers.

"No, it's Santa Claus. Seriously Oliver? You don't need to worry about me?" I scoff into the phone.

"I'll always worry about you Melody." he says.

"Alright, do I still have to call every hour?" I ask.

"Of course. I mean it Melody, call me in an hour. If you don't I'll assume something awful happened to you and I'll come out there myself. Melody, I would die to keep you say." Oliver says, I can tell by the tone of his voice that he is dead serious.

"You're over-exaggerating." I laugh, though I know he isn't.

"Melody, don't you ever think I wouldn't." Oliver hisses into the phone.

"The bus will arrive at the mountains soon Oliver. I'll call you in an hour." I tell him. Before he can argue I hang up and bury the phone in my bag. I look out the window and smile as the mountains come into view.

"Alright, we're here. Just sit while you wait for your turn to exit the bus." Mr. Smith calls, climbing off before everyone else. When Olivia exits, I know it's my turn so I follow her. I stretch as my shoes touch the clean soil. The mountains are so beautiful, I wish Oliver could see this.

"Gather around!" Mr. Smith calls. He is swarmed by huge group of students.

"We will have the picnic over there, by the huge oak tree." Mr. Smith says, picking up his things. We nod, grabbing our things and carrying them over there. Just beside the oak tree, is a lake. Many of the kids jump in, not caring that they are getting their cloths wet. Other just stand by and watch. I slip off my shoes and dive in, sending a wave towards a group of I get out of the water and dry off, It's almost time to leave. I laugh and joke with Olivia. We decide to gor for another swim.

"Hang on! I'm going to get my towel." I say, racing to my backpack. I reach in my bag to find my towel but instead I feel my phone. My eyes widen. _Oh no! Its been almost three hours since I called Oliver! He's probably freaking out that I haven't called him! _I pull out the phone and star at it. The screen reads five missed calls. That had to have been Oliver. I call him and it rings once before he answers it.

"Melody what happened? Are you alright?" he asks, his voice is shaking.

"Oliver I'm fine." I tell him. I hear him sigh in relief.

"I'm coming to get you." he says.

"What? No, Oliver I'm fine." I tell him.

"I don't care. Melody, do you know how worried I've been? You were supposed to call me every hour." Oliver says, I'm pretty sure I can hear him crying softly.

"Oliver, I'm fine. Don't cry, please. I'm perfectly fine." I tell him.

"I know. I'm so glad you're fine Melody. You have no idea how worried I've been. I'm almost there, I'll be where you are in a few moments. I can already see the school buses." he tells me.

"Oliver, I'm safe. I'm perfectly fine. You don't need to come get me. Nothing is going to hurt me here." I scoff. As if on cue, I hear an explosion near the lake. I turn to see several figures, wearing a long dark coats. I can see them grimacing, their teeth were long and dainty.

"Melody! I'll be there! Meet me by the buses!" Oliver screams into the phone. I can hear the roar of his car as I sprint. I don't quite understand what is happening. I see Oliver race out of his car and runs to me. Oliver runs to me in wraps his arms tightly around me, as if he could block them away from me.

"Melody, come on. We have to get to the car." Oliver exclaims, practically dragging me to his car. I get in the front seat and before he's even in his seat he presses hard on the gas pedal. I hold onto the door as he speeds away, I've never seen Oliver so paranoid.

"Let's go home Oliver, they aren't after us." I say, placing my hand on him right arm. He flinches at my touch, I quickly took my hand away.

"We can't go home Melody." Oliver says softly. I can sense something in his voice that I've never heard before.

"What do you mean we can't go back home? Oliver those things aren't after us anymore." I scoff, pulling out my Ipod and headphones.

"Those things were after you and they still are. I didn't think they would find us. I thought they would go after the others first." he said softly.

"Others? What others?" I ask, confused. _He's been keeping something from me. I want to know what. _

"It's not important." Oliver sighed.

"Not important? Those things attacked me and my class mates, your worried out of your mind and I don't know why. And you say it isn't important?" I hiss angrily.

"Melody, I said it doesn't matter!" he retorts. I raise my hand toward the steering wheel and concentrate. I smile when the car stops moving. Oliver tries to start it again but it won't move.

"Melody, are you doing this?" he asks.

"Yes. I can do a few things. I bet you know how and why I can do things. You know why I'm a freak.." I tell him.

"Melody, you aren't a freak." Oliver says calmly.

"Aren't I? How can I can do this?" I ask, raising my palms. I lift a papers and other things lingering around the car.

"What else can you do?" he asks.

"This." I say, lighting to papers on fire. He smiles as if it's all part of some silly game.

"I'm scared Oliver. Normal kids aren't supposed to be able to do things like this. Normal kids aren't supposed to have two weird scars of the same weird symbol." I tell him, my eyes are watering. I'm almost in tears.

"You aren't normal Melody." he says.

"Why? Why aren't I normal?" I ask him.

"You will understand soon." Oliver sighs.

"No! Tell me now!" I hiss, raising my palms at him.

"Melody stop!" he pleads, his eyes watering.

"Tell me." I hiss, releasing him.

"Incredible. You can make the mind feel pain, witness what you want them to. You can make them feel how you want them to." Oliver says, astonished.

"Tell me Olive, or I'll do it again." I threaten.

"I never thought you would use your legacies on me." he laughs.

"Legacies?" I frown.

"As you know, you aren't like the other kids. You never will be. That is because you are not from here. You aren't from Earth." he says.

"Oliver, quit messing with me and tell me the truth." I scoff.

"I am. And you have to believe me Melody." Oliver pleads.

"Why should I? All you've ever done is lie to me." I hiss.

"That's a lie and you know it Melody. I've never lied to you, only kept something from you to protect you." Oliver scoffed.

"Alright, I trust you." I tell him.

"Melody, we have to keep driving. We can't let them catch up, you'll understand after I tell you." Oliver says, I can hear the fear in his voice. I nod, and raise my palms towards the keys. I smile as the car starts up and Oliver starts driving again.

"Okay, now explain to me what's going on." I say, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Like I said, you aren't from Earth. Melody, we are from a planet called Lorien. Twelve years ago, our planet was under attack by the Mogadorians, a group of aliens who had killed off their planet and wanted to claim Lorien. The elders managed to get nine children, Garde onto a ship, along with nine others like myself. We were each assigned one of you as your protectors. We are called Cêpans. Our task is simple, protect you at all costs, even if it means losing our lives. I was lucky when I got you." Oliver stopped, smiling.

"Is that all? Where are the others?" I ask.

"I don't know. It took a full year to get from Lorien to Earth. A year of talking, laughing, eating and playing together. You and the other nine got along nicely. It changed once we arrived on Earth. A man was waiting for us, he gave us all Earth clothes and instructions about how to fit in and not draw attention to ourselves. The nine of you were issued numbers, one through nine. A charm was placed upon the nine of you, as long as you stay apart you can only be killed in order of your numbers. If you come together, the charm is broken. You and I left, switching our names now and then. It only took the Mogadorians two days to find Number One. The poor kid couldn't defend himself, he was only four at the time. His Cêpan must have tried to hold them off as much as he could but there wasn't much he could do. I grew extra paranoid then, they found him easily which meant they could find us too. It wasn't long before we settled here in Alberta, but now we must leave again." Oliver sighed.

"Oliver, that doesn't explain the two scars on my ankle." I say, pulling up my pants on my left leg to show him.

"Every time one of you dies, the others get a scar burned onto their ankle. Melody, when did you get that second scar?" Oliver frowns.

"Four weeks ago. It felt like someone was sawing off my ankle. There's two of them, so does that mean that Number One and Two are dead?" I ask.

"Yes." Oliver sighs.

"What about these Legacies you were talking about?" I ask.

"Well, all you start to develop these powers, Legacies. They can be different. But almost everyone should get Telekinesis." Oliver explains.

"Oh." I say, looking out the window. I barely notice Oliver pull something out of his bag.

"This is yours." he says, handing me a necklace. It has a symbol, the same symbol that gets burned into my ankle every time one of us dies.

"Every one of you has the amulet." he smiles. I nod, placing it around my neck.

"Oliver, you said each one of us was given a number. What number am I?" I ask curiously.

"You are Number Nine." he says.

"Oliver, does this mean you aren't my real brother?" I ask him, I hadn't thought about it until now.

"Yes. But in my heart you are still my little sister." Oliver smiles.

"So then I don't have a brother." I sigh.

"That is not entirely true." Oliver says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, you do have a brother. As a matter of fact, the two of you were born on the same day." Oliver says.

"Is he waiting for me on Lorien?" I ask hopefully.

"No. He came here on the ship." Oliver says.

"At least I know he's alive. Oliver, what number is he?" I ask.

"I don't know. Melody, he could very well have been One or Two." Oliver says sadly.

"So my brother is dead?" I ask, I try to picture his face, hear his voice, I try to remember anything about him. I smile, I remember playing with him on the ship. I remember him holding my hand as we exited the ship. I remember him saying something to me, in another language.

"We spoke a whole different language, didn't we?" I ask him.

"Yes. We spoke Loric, do you remember it?" he asks.

"Somewhat. I remember my," I stopped, catching myself from stuttering. "brother speaking it to me as we exited our ship. He said something to me but I don't understand what." I sigh.

"We have to change our names." Oliver tells me, turning the steering wheel right. I hadn't been paying much attention as to where he was driving.

"Change our names?" I frown.

"Yes. You can choose your name." Oliver smiled.

"Oliver, I don't want to change my name!" I scoffed.

"You have to! The Mogadorians could find you if you don't. I'm serious." Oliver hissed.

"What would we change them to?" I ask. I don't want to but if what Oliver says is true, then I'm in danger if I don't.

"I'll be Kylie McMillian." I decide.

"Then I'll be Sean McMillian." Oliver smiled. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Cumberland Vancouver Island. It's a small town." he told me. I nodded and stared out the window, watching the only home I I had ever remembered fade away in the distance.


End file.
